


Intruders

by F1_rabbit



Series: Road to the Multiverse [10]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Crossover, M/M, Parallel Universes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2019-02-03 15:41:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12751254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F1_rabbit/pseuds/F1_rabbit
Summary: Dany finds out that one of his alternates is trapped in a universe that is falling apart, but is there anything he can do to help?





	Intruders

**Author's Note:**

> Crossover with [Uncertainty - Chapter 20](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10372233/chapters/29086641) but this fic reads as a stand-alone story.

Dany sat at the back of the motorhome, smiling when he felt anything but happy, and he glanced up at the tv screen, watching Pierre answering questions in the press conference.

There had been a little glimmer of hope that he’d get to race again, but it had been snatched away at the last minute. A typhoon had seen Pierre’s Super Formula race cancelled, so he was free to race in F1.

Much to Dany’s annoyance.

He tried to look on the bright side, a weekend with Stoffel, but it wasn’t the same without racing each other.

That evening, Dany was lying around his hotel room, waiting for Stoffel to arrive, when his phone beeped.

It was a message from another Dany, usually just little bits about their life, or recommendations for films that he could watch with Stoffel.

He didn’t expect to see a message asking about one of the other alternates.

Dany D-2693-R:  Have you spoken to D-6661-J recently?

The universe code was unfamiliar to him, but there were literally infinite versions of himself, so keeping track of everyone was a big job. He was Dany D-6269-A, the D standing for driver, along with a unique four-digit number and letter. It wasn’t enough to categorise every single Dany, infinity was hard to quantify, but his brain would struggle to cope with more than a quarter of a million versions of himself anyway.

Dany D-6269-A:  No. Why?

Dany D-2693-R:  Last time I spoke to them they reported irregularities in their universe.

Dany D-2693-R:  And I haven’t heard from them since.

Dany D-6269-A:  Irregularities?

Dany D-2693-R:  Glitches in the very forces that hold universes together.

Dany D-6269-A:  Glitches?!

Dany D-2693-R:  His universe is falling apart around him.

Dany D-6269-A:  What can I do to help?

Dany D-2693-R:  I don’t know if anything can be done.

Dany D-2693-R:  I’ve never heard of anything like this happening before.

Dany D-6269-A:  Leave it with me, I’ll see what I can do.

_Fuck._

Dany flew into action, wishing that he was home so that he had access to everything that he needed, but he would just have to make do.

When Stoffel arrived he was frantic, jittery from the five cups of coffee, but the thought of drinking another can of Red Bull made his stomach twist.

“I have to go save the universe.” Dany fumbled with the portal generator, and Stoffel reached out to stop him from pressing the button.

“Talk to me?”

“D-6661-J, his universe is falling apart and I have to go and help him.”

“Can you even travel to a universe that isn’t stable?” Stoffel stood on his tiptoes so that he could look Dany in the eye, wrinkles across his brow underlining his worry.

“I don’t know, but I have to try.”

Stoffel stroked the side of his face, bringing him back to reality. “I’m coming with you.”

“No, it’s too dangerous.”

“That’s even more reason to come with you.” Stoffel snorted in laughter, his lips twisted into a flicker of a smile.

“I don’t want to lose you.” Dany looked down at the floor, reaching out for Stoffel’s hand.

“I don’t want to lose you either.” Stoffel stared into Dany’s eyes, biting on his lip as he pulled something out of his pocket. “I’ve been wanting to do this for a while now, but I could never find the right time, and I now I know I’ll regret it if I don’t ask you.”

Stoffel paused, Dany holding his breath as he waited for Stoffel to speak again.

“Dany, I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” Stoffel got down on one knee, holding out a plain silver band in his trembling hands. “Will you marry me?”

“Yes.” Dany fluttered his eyelashes, a blush on his cheeks as his smile grew.

“Yes?” Stoffel grinned, his tongue teasing at his lips as he stared at Dany.

“Yes.” Dany nodded, pulling Stoffel to his feet and into a passionate kiss.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” Stoffel rushed to slide the ring on to Dany’s finger, before taking a matching ring out of his pocket and putting it on, admiring the way they looked. He could already picture the wedding, a cold frosty morning in Kortrijk, their breath hanging in the air as they proclaimed their love for all to hear.

If they lived that long.

Dany grinned, pointing the poral generator at the wall as he pressed the button, holding Stoffel’s hand tight as the air rushed around them.

“Let’s go save a universe.”

*

Dany landed with a jolt, his limbs felt heavy, like gravity was stronger here, and the usual blinding white light that he saw when travelling between universes seemed brighter, if that was even possible.

The ground rumbled, and Dany gripped at Stoffel’s hand, his bony fingertips pressing against Stoffel’s knuckles.

Dany stared into the void, his vision clearing as Stoffel emerged from the portal.

“I’m here to save the universe?” Dany smiled, and Nico looked stunned, his mouth hanging open as he blinked in disbelief.

“I think you need to talk to the rabbit.”

Dany tilted his head, of all the things that he’d expected Nico to say, that would have been bottom of the list, after ‘are you an alien?’

“Rabbit?”

“Hazel. She’s trying to save the universe too.” Nico’s hand gestures seemed unfamiliar, and Dany wondered who he had copied them from. “And Will Palmer’s helping.”

“Jo’s little brother?” Dany frowned, trying to make sense of it all.

“Yeah.” Nico nodded as though everything made sense.

“Where is he?” Dany felt Stoffel squeeze his hand, suddenly remembering his presence, and he took a breath.

“In England.”

“Where’s Jo?” Dany wondered where he’d put the portal generator, and he rummaged through his pockets, pulling out a strange collection of spare parts for the device.

“Also at home in England.”

“Why isn’t he here racing?”

“Carlos took his seat.”

“Oh.” Dany had heard rumours of it happening in his universe, but it hadn’t come to be, Carlos was still racing for Toro Rosso, and Jo was still racing for Renault, until the end of the season.

“Where is your version of me?” Dany watched as Nico frowned, confused by the question.

“He’s around here somewhere, I can call him for you.”

“Good, get him to come here.”

Dany stared as Nico awkwardly tried to hold his towel while bending down to reach his phone, and Dany couldn’t help but whistle.

“Enjoying the view?” Nico winked, his smile playful, but there was a hint of sadness in his eyes.

Dany shrugged, but he regretted it when he saw Stoffel blushing.

“Dany’s on his way, he’s at the track still so it’s going to be twenty minutes before he gets here.”

“Okay.” Dany took a breath, wondering if his alternate would know what was going on, and if there was anything that he could do to help.

“Make yourselves comfy.” Nico gestured to a couple of seats sitting by the window, before dropping his towel, and Dany made an effort not to stare, more for Stoffel’s benefit than Nico’s.

The room was silent while they waited for his alternate to arrive, and Dany struggled to sit still, the universe shaking itself apart around him.

A knock on the door roused him out of his thoughts, and Nico dashed off the bed to answer it.

Dany heard his own voice saying ‘hi’ and he braced himself for the shock of seeing his alternate. No matter how often he met up with his alternates, he never quite got used to seeing and hearing himself as others did.

“Come in.” Nico’s voice, calm, almost detached from reality. Although if it was his universe being destroyed, he’d feel the same numb disbelief.

“What are you doing here?” Alt-Dany sounded irritated, and Dany wondered why he wasn’t happy to see him, surely having some help was a good thing.

“I came to help you save the universe.”

“How?”

“I don’t know yet.” Dany shrugged, and his alternate clenched his fists, the anger bubbling under the surface.

“Do you know what’s happening to this universe?”

“No. But Nico said that Will Palmer can help us.”

“Well…” Nico fidgeted on the spot when all sets of eyes were on him, and the tension in the air was so thick that it was like clouds had gathered in the room.

“Let’s go then.” Alt-Dany patted his pockets, checking that he had everything.

Dany reached out for Stoffel’s hand, their fingers intertwined, and Alt-Dany stared at them.

“You two are together?” Alt-Dany pointed at them, the confusion clear on his face, and Dany was sure that whoever his alternate was dating it wasn’t an alternate version of Stoffel.

“It’s a long story.” Dany wanted to tell the world that he was going to marry the man of his dreams, but now wasn’t the time. He had no idea how his alternate wasn’t a trembling mess, just the feeling of the universe falling apart made him dizzy.

He knew that he had to do something, anything, to help his alternate.

“Do you have a screwdriver?” Dany glanced at Stoffel, knowing that he would have his penknife with him.

He rushed to the desk, knocking the usual collection of hotel clutter on to the floor, before opening up the portal generator.

“What is that?”

Dany could feel Nico’s breath on his neck, and he twitched, his mind focused entirely on reprogramming the portal generator.

“It’s a portal generator. It generates portals.” Stoffel pulled Nico away, he knew that Dany didn’t like to be disturbed while working.

“I need to reconfigure it so that I can teleport us within this universe.” Dany’s voice was blunt and to the point.

“You can do that?”

Dany smiled, Nico was impressed, and he’d be lying if he said that it didn’t feel good.

“Done.” Dany snapped the portal generator closed, and he held out his hand.

He looked over at his alternate, who was skulking in the corner of the room.

“Stay here, make sure that no-one realises Nico is missing, okay?” Dany smiled at his alternate, but he didn’t look impressed.

“Why can’t I come?” Alt-Dany exhaled, all the worry and frustration clear.

“Because I don’t know what will happen when two near-identical beings travel through a portal.”

“Fine.” Alt-Dany sat down on the bed, his arms folded, but then he pulled a book out of his pocket.

Books were always his refuge, no matter how bleak the world seemed, he could find comfort in another world.

Travelling to parallel universes was the next logical step.

Dany looked at Nico, his eyes wide and his palms sweaty. “You’re going to want to hold on tight.”

Nico nodded, squeezing Dany’s hand.

Dany smiled at Stoffel, the rush of adventure making them both giddy.

Neither of them saw the fear on Nico’s face as they stepped into the portal.

*

The voices were distorted by the rush of the portal roaring around his ears, and then Dany heard a familiar voice.

“Nico?” Jo’s accent was unmistakable, and Dany blinked, trying to force his eyes to focus as the room came into view.

It was an average sized bedroom, with the bed and desk taking up most of the space, leaving just enough room for five people to sit on the floor.

Jo was huddled next to Nico, who was clearly still disorientated from the trip, and Jo’s little brother was sitting by the desk, fiddling with something that looked like an oscilloscope, but Dany was sure that it was something more than that.

“I missed you.” Nico leant in for a kiss, and Dany felt a pang of sadness, their time was running out.

“I missed you too.”

“You two are together?” Stoffel raised an eyebrow, but he wasn’t surprised.

“Yeah, have been for nearly six months.” Jo’s face contorted into a frown, the lines rippling on his forehead. “Fuck, it was six months on Monday.”

“I…” Nico paused, and Dany could sense the unhappy thoughts running through Nico’s mind.

“You two can make up for it once we’ve saved the universe.” Dany snorted in laughter, but nothing could have prepared him for what happened next.

“Do you know how to save a universe, human?”

“Did the rabbit just talk?” Dany glanced around, looking at Stoffel who was staring at Hazel with his eyes wide.

“Yes,” Will said, “The rabbit talks. She is in fact a multi-dimensional being in the body of a rabbit, and she’s our best hope of saving the universe.”

“How do you know she’s not the one destroying it?”

Everyone in the room froze, all looking at each other, waiting for someone to speak, and in the end Jo was the first to crack.

“She is the one that told us about the glitches in the universe.”

“I worked it out first.” Will smiled for a second, but then it faded. It was a great discovery, but no-one got thanked for realising that the world was ending. Not without finding a solution to it first.

“When did the rabbits tell you?” Jo cuddled in closer to Nico, stroking his hair absently.

“I intercepted their communications, and I tracked it to the rabbits in the woods.” Will shrugged, the fight gone from his body.

Dany couldn’t imagine living with the knowledge that the universe was being destroyed, he’d rather go out in ignorant bliss.

“Were they talking about destroying the universe?” Dany flinched as Hazel hopped towards him, stumbling backwards over something and landing on his bum in an ungainly heap of limbs.

“No, they were talking about irregularities in the forces that were holding this universe together.” Will shuffled Dany out of the way so that he could take a box out of the wardrobe, and Stoffel came to sit down by his side.

“Could other rabbits be planning to destroy the universe?” Dany reached out to hold Stoffel’s hand as Hazel crept closer, sniffing at the portal generator in his other hand.

He couldn’t quite believe that there was a talking rabbit, but right now, it was the most logical explanation for everything that was going on. The alternative didn’t bear thinking about, he had no idea what travelling between universes could do to the human mind.

“How did you get this technology? It is way beyond your comprehension, human.”

Jo snorted in laughter as Hazel turned an ear to face him, before running her chin over the portal generator.

“I made it.” Dany looked proud of himself, but Hazel didn’t look impressed. She was sat in the middle of the floor, her ears flicking between the five humans, her whole body on alert.

“How did you balance the energy between universes?” She flicked her whiskers in an accusatory way, and even though she was the smallest creature in the room, she was in control of the situation.

“How did I do what?” Dany frowned, and he felt his stomach churn like he’d just drunk four cans of Red Bull.

“The transfer of energy has to be balanced, human.” The word human sounded like an insult when directed at him, and it felt like the whole room was holding their breath.

“What if it isn’t balanced?” Nico asked, holding his hands up when Hazel turned to stare at him.

“If the energy is not balanced, the universes will balance themselves, but that is unpredictable.” Hazel stood on her hind legs so that she could look Dany in the eyes, her black eyes trapping him in her gaze.

“That explains why things were always going wrong.” Dany’s eyes darted back and forth, and his blood ran cold, the horror of it all dawning on him. “Oh god, did I cause the destruction of this universe?”

“No. Universes come and go, it is the natural way, the way it has always been.” Hazel hopped over to Will, nuzzling against his hand in a way that made her seem like little more than a pet.

 “Yes, yes, we all know how it should be.” Will sighed, slumping down against the wall as the hyperspace oscilloscope flickered, and he sat with his legs tucked up against his chest, rocking back and forth. “But that’s not what’s happening here, this universe is literally falling apart at the seams.”

The tension grew, and Dany took a deep breath, his knuckles white as he gripped at Stoffel’s hand.

“What?” Dany peered over Will’s shoulder, looking at the lines that showed the very forces that were meant to be holding the universe together. But there was something wrong about them. They should have been smooth lines, but these were jagged, erratic, and there was a dot that shouldn’t have been there at all.

Him.

“You two should go home, before this universe is too unstable for you to leave.” Hazel nudged Dany with her nose, her fur like velvet, and her whiskers tickled at his skin.

“No, maybe I can help stop whatever’s happening.” Dany paused for a second, looking at Stoffel with his lips compressed, and he waited for Stoffel to nod before continuing. “What is happening in this universe?”

Jo sighed, the hopelessness radiating out as the dust and rabbit fur danced in the light.

“The very forces that hold this universe together, have glitches in them.” Will thumped the side of the hyperspace oscilloscope, waiting for the lines to become clear again before showing them to Dany.

“Can’t you stop it?” Dany asked Hazel, and she looked like she was going to bite him.

“Human, if I knew how to stop this, it would be fixed already.” Hazel let out a huffy snort before hopping back over to Jo, nuzzling against his hand as she waited for him to pet her.

“Best guess,” Will said, scratching the back of his neck, “We would have to trigger a big bang style event, and hope that it resets the universe.”

“You cannot just create a big bang, human.” Hazel flicked her paws, cleaning her face as everyone watched her, waiting for her to speak again.

“The thing could?” Nico clicked his fingers as Dany tried to guess what he meant, but his mind was a blank. “When they switched it on people said the world was going to end.”

“The Large Hadron Collider at CERN?” Will looked thoughtful for a second, grabbing a pad of paper from his desk as he started scribbling down formula that Dany recognised, it was the same formula he used to develop the portal generator.

Dany racked his mind for what he could do to help, and then he felt something pressing against his leg. The cool metal of the portal generator.

“I could transport us there?” Dany waved the portal generator, smiling like a kid with a shiny new toy.

“Do you know how to work a Large Hadron Collider?” Jo asked, and Dany shook his head. He was sure that there wouldn’t be a on button, or a sign saying, ‘press here to reset the universe’.

“No, but the scientists there will.” Dany opened the portal generator, holding his hand out for a screwdriver that Stoffel passed him without a word.

“How would you get them to cooperate?” Jo’s voice trembled, and Dany knew that there was no easy answer.

“A gun?” Dany frowned, and Stoffel compressed his lips, squeezing his hand.

“That’s your plan? Take them hostage?” Will shook his head. “We’d be shot before we even figured out how to make the thing work.”

“It is not powerful enough, you would need a device that does not exist yet on Earth.” Hazel flicked her whiskers, and Will sat the paper down, his head hung low.

“If it doesn’t exist on Earth, does it exist elsewhere in this universe?” Will’s eyes were wide, and Dany felt the same, he wanted there to be an answer. He wanted to be able to do something, exorcise the useless feeling that haunted him.

“I am afraid not. Sorry, human.”

“Fuck.” Will let out a breath, the air rushing through his pursed lips as Hazel twitched her ears in the breeze.

“There was only a one to the power of negative eighty-nine chance that it would have produced a black hole.” Hazel hopped over to Will, clambering on to his lap so that she could lick away the tear that rolled down his cheek.

“If there’s a chance we should take it.”

“The chance that it would have fixed the universe rather than destroying it was even smaller.” Hazel moved on to grooming Will’s eyebrows, and he smiled as her whiskers tickled his eyelids. “If there was a simple way to stop the glitches, I would have done it already.”

“I know.” Will sniffed, and Jo rushed to his side, his eyes moist as he held his brother.

Dany wanted to say that it would all be okay, but it was an empty platitude, and he let the silence fill the room.

“It’s okay, I’m here.” Jo stroked Will’s back, his role as big brother restored. And then something caught his attention, the ring on Dany’s finger. “You two are married?”

“Engaged.” Dany smiled, nodding as he held his hand out so that Jo could admire the ring. He saw the sadness in Nico’s eyes, at this rate, they were never going to have this. Their future was being snatched away from them, and they were powerless to stop it. “I was going to come alone, but with… the glitches, Stoffel wanted to come with me, and-“

“And I’d been thinking of asking for a while, I was going to wait until Christmas, but before travelling to an unstable parallel universe seemed the right time to do it.” Stoffel laughed, leaning in for a kiss as Dany grinned, a glimpse of genuine happiness.

And then reality came rushing back in the form of a low rumble, the others oblivious to it. Or maybe they’d just got used to the universe falling apart around them.

“Rabbit, Hazel, what can I do to help?” Dany felt powerless, he was used to feeling like a god among men, with the power to travel to any universe. But what good was that when he couldn’t stop a universe from being destroyed?

“Go back to your own universe, and stay there.” Hazel scurried off Will’s lap, jumping down with a flick of her feet, even though it was only a few inches, and she stood by Dany’s ankle, waiting for him to move.

“There must be something I can do.”

Hazel nipped Dany’s ankle, the only part of his skin that wasn’t covered by his jeans or his shoes. “Go. And put everything back where you found it first.”

Jo glanced at Nico, the worry clear on his face. “Give us two minutes?”

The words ‘this might be the last time we’re together’ went unsaid, but Dany could see the pain in their eyes.

Dany rubbed at his ankle, the small red nip standing out against his pale skin as Hazel looked proud of herself.

The sound of two people noisily making out was clear for all to hear, but Dany didn’t blame them for taking every opportunity, when they had no idea if this time would be their last.

Dany felt his arm floating, and Hazel thumped, her impatience clear. It was time for him to go.

Nico smiled as he wandered back into the room, and Dany wondered how he could smile at a time like this, knowing that death was coming for them.

But that was life, no-one knew when their time was up, they just had to live life as it came to them.

The atmosphere would have been more fitting for a funeral, and Dany surveyed the room, Will curled up on the floor, petting a white rabbit as Jo clung to Nico, unwilling to let him go.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help.” Dany reached out for Nico’s hand, the portal rushing into life as the wind ruffled his hair. “But your Dany might be able to.”

“I’ll be back after Brazil.” Nico leant in for one last kiss as Dany dragged him towards the portal, Stoffel bringing up the rear, making sure that he didn’t change his mind at the last minute.

“I’ll be waiting for you.” Jo blew a kiss to Nico as he disappeared through the portal, and Dany felt a tear run down his cheek.

*

They landed back in Austin with a thud, and Dany went straight to work on the portal generator, the sooner they were out of here the better.

Nico sat down on the edge of the bed, Alt-Dany finally tucking away his book so that he could give Nico a hug, and the sound of Nico crying filled the room, Alt-Dany whispering words of comfort in Russian.

His alternate must be stressed if he was talking in Russian.

Dany snapped the portal generator back together, and Stoffel jumped, grabbing his hand as the portal roared into life, drowning out the sound of Nico’s sobs.

“You shouldn’t have come.” Alt-Dany shook his head, closing his eyes as he wrapped his arms around Nico, shielding him from the world.

“I’m sorry.”

*

Dany fell to the floor as he stumbled out of the portal, Stoffel clinging to him as he bawled his eyes out, unable to believe that he had just left his alternate in a universe that was falling apart.

“I wish I could have done something.”

“You tried.”

“Why doesn’t that feel like enough?”

**Author's Note:**

> *and obviously none of this actually happened, it is all a figment of my twisted imagination ;)


End file.
